I filled in "Adventure"

" A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."

  - Lao Tzu

I left Cape Town with not much of a plan. All I know was that after an unpleasant week at work I wanted to get away, get my mind off things and just ride. As I left my house heading northbound I thought that a cruiser would have been a better mode of transport for this excursion than a GS. I've always wanted to explore some gravel roads on the western coast yes, but contradicting reports on road conditions, inaccurate maps and possible "sand traps" always had me a bit reluctant to explore that side of the Western Cape on my own. This time I would settle for the straight an narrow...the N7. With the state of mind I was in, I believed that was the better option...

I always divide my rides into three categories..."earplug", "earphone" or "eardrum" rides. "Earplug rides" are those long boring rides where I try to cover the greatest distance in the shortest time possible...usually resulting in the need for earplugs to dampen the wind noise. "Earphone rides" are between 80-120 km/h, relaxed and usually in no rush to reach my destination...if there is one in fact. For gravel roads I need to concentrate and to enjoy the scenery with the sound of 800cc's in my ears, so no plugs or earphones allowed. I decided that this was going to be an "earphone ride" to Vredendal with a sleepover at the Bo-Tuin Cottages in Vanrhynsdorp and then back on the same route the next day...

Cool MX Boots

When I left my house the weather was fine, slightly overcast towards Malmesbury and around 18 degrees with no wind.  With the encouragement of Meat Loaf and Eminem in my ears I managed to get to Piekenierskloof Pass where the temperature had dropped to around 14 degrees and the mist was gradually turning into a drizzle. My new O'Neil MX boots which I bought two days before was arguably a bit of an overkill for this ride, but I was determined to wear them so that I could get used to them and besides...they looked rather cool. Changing gears with space boots however was still a bit of a nuisance and when I walked on them it felt like I just got a new pair of prosthesis. What was more worrisome though was by the time that I reached the Piekenierskloof Pass my arse was sore and boredom had already crept in. I stopped at Citrusdal were the sun showed his head for the first time and tried GoogleMaps on my mobile for an alternative route to take. Not that I wanted to add more kilometers to a sore bum, but I needed a road which had more curves than the N7 at least. The white line on the opposite side of the Olifants River looked like a good option. Chances were good that it was going to be gravel, but what the heck I was dressed for the occasion and I had to restore the feeling in my backside. 

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

 - Andre Gide

I drove through town, turned off on what I believed was the white line I had seen on the map and hoped for the best. After passing an informal settlement where some drunk local threw a rock at me, the gravel suddenly appeared. All of a sudden I was on a new adventure. A fairly good gravel road where I have never been on before with the N7 and its roadworks (apparently with 8 traffic stop points) visible across the river on the left hand side. I did not even think of deflating my tyres or switching off my ABS, but true to my beliefs I removed the earphones when I stopped to take what would be the first of many pictures along the "scenic route".  Pretty soon all the issues at work disappeared and I started writing the first chapter of my post in my head.... 

"It is amazing how your whole experience can change from moving from one side of the river to the other", I thought to myself. The gravel road was running much closer to the river than the N7, obviously without traffic and each corner presented a new surprise on the other side. All of a sudden I remembered why I had changed from my first bike which was a cruiser to the GS. This is what I wanted to do, explore and discover. To many this road might be old news, but to me it was a new discovery and not the only one I would experience on this weekend trip.

The road which I later identified as "Die Ou Kaapse Pad" goes all the way up following the curves of the Olifants River until it reaches Clanwilliam. There I filled up and saw another road (R363) heading further north but indicated on the map with a similar yellow line as the N7. Even though I was a bit disappointed thinking it might be tarred it was also heading in my direction of choice and anything other than the N7 at this stage looked appealing. 

"Namakwalanders"

Another surprise... the R363 turned out to be gravel too and just as exciting as the previous one. My dad always says that he is pretty sure the guys who drew the maps had never been there themselves. I was thinking the same when the yellow road turned out to be the same as the white one. This road also touches the banks of the Olifants River at times and became rather tricky at some points with loose gravel and sandy patches. I would definitely not say "novice-riders-please-avoid", but there was still some puddles left from rain and some sandy bits and loose stones to negotiate. The main thing is that I was having so much fun and realized that by the time it meets up with the N7 I would be close to Vredendal where the Namaqua Festival was happening. 

"More Namakwalanders"

Not a festival lover myself I thought the festival might be the biggest attraction in that part of the world right now seeing that the flower season was long gone. Only the fynbos and other shrubs had flowers which somehow still made the ride worthwhile where flowers were concerned, but the festival would be a good place to grab something to eat and to see what the people of the Namaqualand had to offer. Ever had a pizza cone before...? Delicious. I walked along the stalls and could see that Greenmarket Square got the news of the Namaqua Festival early enough and basically had moved up north with the same crap imported from Africa and China. Making sure that I leave before Huisgenoot's Music Show with the likes of Kurt Darren started I left for Vanrhynsdorp to get a shower and a bed for the night. 

At Bo-Tuin Cottages I was treated like a guest of honour. Make sure to book your bed for next year's "flower run". My hostess Salome convinced me to take the coastal route back home the next day. I was a bit skeptic as my map shows no roads running down the coast. Clearly I was ill-informed. "You can take the toll road from Doornbaai all the way past Lambersbaai onto Elandsbaai" she said. What? A toll road along the coast? You must be kidding me....

Lookout Point Doornbaai - Just fog

Bobaas Bo-Tuin Breakfast

The next morning after a fantastic breakfast I took the 82 km tarred road to Doornbaai. At Doringbaai I could not see a thing, the fog was as thick as candy floss. Finding a "toll road" even harder to spot. Slightly embarrassed I phoned Salome asking for more information on finding this mysterious toll road. "Just drive through town and when the road veers off to your left then you are on it". OK, found it. The road changed quickly into a sandy road, no signs, no nothing. I was heading into the fog again on a road I did not know where it would take me and the sand worried me. Suddenly a fork in the road appeared. You know the saying: "When you get to a fork in the road...take it!"? Well, I could see a devils fork ahead and I took it, the middle prong across the bridge to be exact. After a few kilometres something told me that I might have taken the wrong one, so I phoned again. "Is there a railway line on your left hand side?" NO. "Then you are on the wrong road...".

I remember crossing the railway line when I took the middle prong earlier, so I turned around. I took the right one this time but still no-one asking for toll or no signs indicating that I am on the correct road.  Soon I was heading south with a railway line on the left of me and mist occasionally rolling in from the sea on the right hand side. At least the sun was now in full shine most of the time. It turned out that I was on Transnet's service road along the Sishen line. Moments later the oncoming Sishen train confirmed that, about four kilometres longs with eight electric units pulling this long snake. Quite something to witness, but still no toll gate in sight. Along the way one or two cars passed from the front so I was thinking that should I end up with my face on the ground, at least there is movement on this road. I never knew that service roads were open to public, but I was certain that had I been trespassing at least I was not doing it alone. 

Devil's Fork - Keep to your right

Wrong Road, turn around

Right Road, continue...

Sishen Train homeward bound

The service road was really in a good condition. Every now and then I got to a bridge crossing similar in design to the first one and I did my "devils-fork-routine" avoiding the bridge and going back onto the service road again. When I checked out of curiosity GoogleMaps placed me somewhere in a field next to a railway line with no roads close-by. I didn't mind because I was happy to be where I was and was obviously way ahead of Google on this one. I was doing about 80-100 km/h doing my "Interflora-man stance" I learned from Jacobsroodt on my previous trip. It saves the arms against the wind pressure from the front. You know the one-foot-on-the-back-footrest-stance......?

Just before Lamberts Bay I saw a string of cars ahead of me. No I'm lying, just two. "That must be the toll gate", I thought to myself. Everyone signed a book and was left through. I asked the gentleman in the uniform what the damage was for using this "private road". "Nothing Meester, the company that used to maintain the road is no longer here. It will be free until Transnet finds a new one". Ok, that worked for me. I completed the "visitor's book" and I noticed that most people filled in "Kamp" (Camping) under "Purpose of journey". I filled in "Adventure".....

"T" for Toll. It does exist...just not on my maps

Toll Plaza at Lamberts Bay

From Lamberts Bay I continued on with the road until I got to Elands Bay. At Elands Bay I just stopped to put my MX boots on the same beach that was made famous by Bruce Brown's movie, The Endless Summer. The road continues down to Velddrift where I left it early with the plan of filling up again in Velddrift. I am not sure if you can get onto it again to make it all the way down to Saldanha. From Velddrift I took the straight and narrow way back home to continue my 400 km ride of the day, this time on the West Coast Road and very pleased with myself.

A gravel toll road along the West Coast? Who would have thought? A boring ride turning into an adventure? For sure!

"I have discovered that even the mediocre can have adventures and even the fearful can achieve."

 - Edmund Hillary

As for the cruiser idea.....nah, never again!

Potsberg Flower Reserve

Yesterday we went for a picnic on the Wast Coast Nature Reserve side of the Langebaan Lagoon. We did a quick drive through the Potsberg Flower Reserve before we returned home.

Road Trip - Swartriet, West Coast, South Africa

They say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I guess the shortest distance between Cape Town and Swartriet, a small holiday resort at an even smaller West Coast town called Jacobsbaai is probably also a straight line along the R27, but when a friend invited us for a weekend at Swartriet I decided to take the more zigzag approach...or otherwise knows as the "scenic route" to get there.

My trip started just before 9 on Saturday morning. Unlike my previous trip this was supposed to be a family weekend, so we decided to take the road to Swartriet in my blue 1996 2.3i Volksiebus, you know the one with the red veldskoene which David Kramer advertised on TV many years ago....?

Our departure was brutally interrupted when a friend pleaded me over the phone for company at Carlucci's, the well-known hangout place for yuppies and kite-surfers alike. His wife was at a friend's breakfast birthday party and he had to look after the twins. I knew that he was looking for assistance more than company and I have never said no for a breakfast at Carlucci's before, so we decided to stop there on our way and grab a "Quickie", the R19-95 breakfast which includes bacon, eggs, a fried tomato and toast of your choice....


The Twins, Zach and Wim...or is it Wim and Zach?

At Carlucci's we ran into more friends and my dream to have my own "F.R.I.E.N.D.S coffee-stop" scenario where you could go at anytime for a coffee and find friends felt like it was coming true. The 'Quickie' turned out to be longer than expected and after an hour or so we were on our way again...

On the coastal road between Blouberg and Melkbosstrand we stopped at a little beach called "Kreeftebaai". Between Blouberg and Melkbosstrand there are a couple of beaches with names like "Derde Steen", "Haakgat", "Holgat" and "Kelpbaai". All of these are favourite spots for surfers, fishermen and romantic lovers taking walks along the beach...


Looking back from Kreeftebaai towards Table Mountain...It was a glorious day, sun, no wind and the temperature just right for traveling...

In Melkbosstrand we stopped at this little antique shop. I guess the majority of the shops in South Africa have sales on at the moment. Who can afford antiques in these difficulty times in any case? If I hang on a little while longer all the furniture in my house will be antiques soon...We had to leave quickly as Kai could not appreciate the value of a 200 year old coffee table... The store keeper was relieved when we eventually left and I could start breathing again...

After Melkbos we headed towards Darling. We turned of from the R27 towards Atlantis and Mamre. We passed Atlantis and stopped at Mamre to have a look at what it had to offer...

I was quite surprized to see how beautiful it was in Mamre. We drove to the Moravian Church Museum and passed this little house under the oak and pine trees...

A mission station was established at Groene-kloof (Mamre) in 1808 by the Moravian Missionary Society at a former military outpost on the farm Louwplaas as well as the farms De Groene Kloof and Cruywagenskraal. The missionaries Kohrhammer and Schmidt set out to work among the local Khoekhoen but the mission station also served as a haven for freed slaves. Today the old "kerkwerf" (churchyard) can still be seen as well as a mill, bakery, stables and a school. The Old Shop was in fact an empty building in the process of being renovated into a restaurant. Inside I met Rose, a member of the Moravian Church but also a member of the Monument Commision. Rose was very eager to show us around the "kerkwerf", telling us about the history of the mission station and the upcoming flower festival....

The church was inaugurated in 1818. Inside everything is white. I did not take pictures out of respect, but asked permission to take a picture from the outside. In 1967 all the buildings were declared a National Monument and the church is working hard in restoring all the buildings. They are planning a Flower Festival in September and I was invited to come back and join in the fun. Who knows, I might just visit Mamre again...

The "Pastorie" is the same house which Willem Adriaan van der Stel lived in when he came to Groene-kloof in 1701 to establish a military and cattle post in this area to protect the European settler's cattle from theft by the indigenous KhoiKhoi people...

Kai is posing next to the plaque which was stolen off by vandals for scrap metal. Nowadays nothing in South Africa that is made from copper withstand the onslaught by criminals stealing the metal to buy a loaf of bread...or drugs. I guess theft is still a problem and wish that Mr Van der Stel could come back again to solve the problems with the local "Khoikhoi"

The R307 to Darling meanders through some beautiful farmlands....

Everywhere along the road are picturesque scenes of wild flowers. Although it is way too early in the season for the magnificant flower spectacle that this area and further north provides, everywhere beautiful patches of Namaqualand daisies were staring with their faces into the sun. This might be a good trip to do in September, a flower road trip to Namaqualand...

When we arrived at Darling Kai was fast asleep. This prevented us from actually discovering what Darling was hiding in its little shops and hideaways. Darling is famous for the comedian Pieter-Dirk Uys, who every now and then cross-dresses and change into Evita Bezuidenhout, a white Afrikaner socialite and self-proclaimed political activist. We didn't run into her, but we will definately come back to Darling in the near future...or maybe even come back and watch one of his many shows at his famous "Evita-se-Peron".

From Darling we shot across to Langebaan. Langebaan Lagoon is popular for kite surfing beginners as the shallow water makes it very easy to stand while one tries to figure out how to turn the kite left and right and how to get back to the water once the wind takes you up into the blue skies..It is one of few purely salt water lagoons in South Africa.

In Langebaan Kai woke up when we stopped to browse around in some of the little shops close to the main beach. Here we spend about an hour or so on the beach while Kai tested out some of his new beach toys...

From Langebaan we took a scenic gravel road to Saldanha Bay. We got lost after a while and when I pulled out my new Nokia 5800 to get directions from the built-in GPS, I realized that continuing with the same road until I see a familar road sign might be the best thing to do. We managed to get back on track and later arrived in Saldanha Bay. Saldanha Bay's location makes it a paradise for any watersport enthusiast, and its local economy depend strongly on fishing, mussels, seafood processing, the steel industry and the harbour. Saldanha Bay is named after António de Saldanha, captain of a vessel in Albuquerque's fleet which visited South Africa in 1503.

After Saldanha it was not far to our final destination, Swartriet. We passed the Swartriet turnoff to go check out a strange looking structure at Jacobsbaai....

A very "un"familiar sight in Jacobsbaai and yet another Cape of Storms victim. The eight-storey high vessel ran aground when heavy downpours and gale force winds lashed the Cape coast line. The barge called Margaret is a towing barge with a further 13 barges stacked on top that was being towed from Durban to the Netherlands by a ship called the Salviliant when the tow rope broke in the bad weather.

"Jacobsbaai is a small coastal village on the West Coast of South Africa, still unspoiled with mostly dirt roads, no shopping centers or amenities. A visit to Weskusplek with its picturesque restaurant offers a unique experience of the overwhelming beauty of the fynbos framed Atlantic Ocean, contrasted by barren land with a curious charm." This is how Jacobsbaai is described in many tourist brochures. What they do not mention is that the little restaurant belongs to the infamous Steve Hofmeyer....

Another view of Jacobsbaai....

We finally arrived at Swartriet. Swartriet consists of twenty four comfortable self-catering chalets virtually on the beach! The seafront chalets have three bedrooms and beds for eight people. The remaining chalets have two bedrooms and beds for six people. Each chalet is equipped with a two-plate stove, fridge, plates, cutlery, built-in cupboards, braai facilities and a garage. Bedding is provided on request.

Draadkar ("Wire car"). How many boys growing up in South Africa have never had a "draadkar"? If your dad hadn't built yours, then maybe the gardener built you one, or you built your own. Nevertheless, draadkarre are as part of any South African boy's life as "kleilat gooi" and "ketty-skiet".

Some of the houses from Jacobsbaai sticking out behind the dunes. When I we arrived at Jacobsbaai I went for a quick surf. After that I took a long walk on the beach and later had a braai with the friends that were expecting us....

When you walk along the beach you get the feeling that no-one had ever been there before. Unfortunately you see footsteps and you know you were not the first one there. Nevertheless, to end a day journey at Swartriet is a good way of ending your road trip.... I hope to do another road trip soon....